M&A Time? Health Services Giants Are Having An Enormous Day

Shares of CIGNA Corporation CI are surging on Monday afternoon, up $19.80 to $157.12, a gain of nearly 15 percent.

The stock first spiked around mid-day on Monday, after Dow Jones reported that Anthem Inc ANTM was interested in a bid for the company at $175 per share. Wall Street firm Susquehanna also believes Anthem could pay $185 per share for Cigna, with synergies potentially larger than $1 billion, according to Benzinga Pro.

Two hours later, both Aetna Inc AET and UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH shares spiked after rumors of a new Dow Jones report that the latter could be interested in bidding for Cigna or Aetna.

Related Link: Does Anthem Want Cigna For $175/Share? Some Investors Are Buying Into The Rumor

Of note, Humana Inc HUM was linked to buyout discussions with both Aetna and Cigna last month. At the time, the Wall Street Journal said a merger could "trigger a widely anticipated wave of consolidation in the industry."

Earlier in June, Oppenheimer analyst Ari Wald named Cigna his top healthcare stock pick from a technical standpoint, though this analysis was unrelated to M&A speculation.

The stock had healthy support on the chart when it traded near $138, according to Wald.